Ivy felt a blush creep into her cheeks and she stood up, "No! No... It's... It's alright. It's fine! You're fine. I'm just... Awkward." She stammered waving her hands. "I just don't think that ponies should be judged by what they are. That's not fair. You've not done any wrong by me, so I don't see why I should treat you badly based on what you are or what your people might have done..." She murmured, shifting hip to hip. "I'm sorry... I'm rambling again. I just... I'm really... Just so... I don't know." She pushed her glasses up her nose and twisted a lock of red hair around her finger. She looked away, staring at the floor.

She was nervous again, it was certainly something he said, the last part? He felt his cheeks redden, looking away to at least try and hid it. "Awkward isn't bad, awkward is fine, I-I don't mind you rambling, I-I mean you've taught me so much about your plants a-a-and you showed me this place, I, well I've had more fun here than than at that party...it was too loud, too busy, I, um, I, well I like it here....with you. Yeah, that's that's what I'm trying to say I guess. D-do you think we can meet here, tomorrow I mean. After class?" Chitin finally found himself asking, after stumbling through so many words. If he was feeling awkward from all of this he could only imagine what Ivy was feeling, "I, well I can leave if I'm starting to make you feel awkward. I just wanted to know if I could see you again."

Ivy wrung her hands and slowly brought her gaze back to him, and nodded."I would like that." She said quietly, "I would like that very much. If we met tomorrow after class, I mean. I do like ice cream. There are some good ice cream places around here, or so I'm told." She said, pushing the thick red curls over her shoulder. She could feel her pulse in her ears, and she shook her head a bit to clear it. She folded her hands together over her chest in hopes of slowing down her heart pounding against her rib cage. "I think that would be nice."

"O-okay, so I think my last class is at noon tomorrow?" Chitin replied, he actually didn't know how he was going to pay doing something like this. The hive had given him a bit of money, but was much more for necessities, not much for entertainment purposes, unless that was a necessity in college. He could always just replace the clerk at the store, and give Ivy a discount, b-but that might be seen as a drastic misuse of his powers not only that but it would probably cause a bit of a poor image to Ivy, after all she was just saying he had done nothing wrong. Maybe using a little from the necessity money wouldn't be that bad. "S-So it's a date then huh? Er, a plan, its a plan, a good plan. That won't take away from you taking care of your plants will it? I, I'd hate to get inbetween you and your hobbies."

Ivy shook her head, "not at all. I have tomorrow off, so I'll be getting in here early. Probably around 6 a.m. or so." she said, sweeping her arms out."I planned on getting all my work done early so that I would have the rest of the afternoon to relax. Of course that means I would still be here at noon, just not working." she put her hands behind her back and tilted her head with a gentle yet awkward smile."so if you want to meet me here, I would be alright with that."

"Y-yeah I'd love to meet here, I have psychology and then I'll come here. I-It shouldn't take me that long, maybe twenty minute walk?" Chitin answered a smile beginning to form on his face, is wings instinctively giving a small series of buzzes, excited for the next afternoon, more importantly happy that he wasn't being a nuisance to this nice mare. "W-What would you say is your favorite ice cream then?" the changeling asked, hoping for some frame of reference as to what to expect from the treat. In all honesty he had only heard of the stuff through his missions into the city, seeing the parlors, but never actually going into them. Actual food and drinks his species could eat or drink but they weren't a necessity, such delicacies were much more a hobby than anything.

id going to stop for a moment, contemplating her answer.it had been some time since she didn't Goldston such a treat,so the answer was not immediately present in her mind."I'm not sure, probably cookies and cream, or mint chocolate. It's been some time, so it's a little hard for me to choose between the two." She said thoughtfully. She pondered her answer from moment, the nodded enthusiastically."Now that I think about it, I would have to definitely say mint chocolate chip. Do you have a favorite?"

"Uh," Chitin stuttered a bit nervously, "W-well I have never actually had ice cream before. I, well I know about it through my time hiding, but I've never actually had the chance to actually have any of it." He answered, rubbing the back of his head, "Food isn't really something we have much of back in the hive, after all we do survive off emotions rather than physical food or drink. Probably a good explanation about why I've never had any of that alcohol stuff we had earlier, huh?"

Ivy sat down on one of the gnarled roots growing out of the ground and nodded. "It would actually explain a lot. Although ice cream is a luxury there are many tasty and interesting foods that are available. Perhaps you might be able to try some, even if only as an indulgence." She said with a shrug. "Even if you can't eat it, perhaps you could feed off the enjoyment from the others around you. That might work." She said with a smile. This was all going so well that she could barely believe it. "We may even find that different foods may produce different emotions, something of an emotional buffet of sorts, where you get to try a little bit of everything."

"Oh, I'm sorry Ivy, I guess I didn't fully explain, our bodies can process food but we don't need to eat or drink, after all we need to fully blend it, how could we do that if we weren't able to eat." Chitin asked rhetorically, "Like a green snake in dried leaves, close but just a little bit off and even then there are a few times that there has been actual physical food in the hive, but thats really the hobbies of the higher castes, not drones." however the thought of emotions caused by foods that was certainly something, maybe a suggestion to send back to the hive, after all if they could learn to cook in restaurants maybe they could get the love in much higher quantities. Something definitely to consider. "How could we get saddness though?" He pondered outloud. Purposefully make bad food? But wouldn't that hurt the place they were working for in some way?

Ivy thought hard for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders. She had known sadness, but had never known food to be a cause for it. " I'm not sure. Food is usually a cause for happiness, or at least contentment." She said contemplatively. She was coming up empty for answers, "And I wasn't exactly sure how that worked. I wasn't really sure how changelings gathered nutrition, whether food was a viable source of nutrients or not. I'm glad you could clear that up for me."

"I, well I actually don't know if we could fully survive on just your food. I've never seen a changeling try it. Though I expect someone must have since again we don't usually have food amongst our kind." Chitin thought of the implications it might have, simply living off the same diet a pony did. What would happen? Would he not be able to change anymore? Would he just get a lot weaker? "I, well I guess its like your plants. They don't need physical food but they need sunlight. If they don't get that then I'm guessing they just wither. I guess we changelings need others emotions like they need the sun." He continued now actually rather curious. He may need to experiment on this sort of thing maybe when school was over or there was a break he could give it a try.

Ivy smiled gently, suddenly feeling fatigue pulling at the edges of her mind, and she leaned against the tree whose root she now sat upon. She could feel herself blinking slower and silently condemned the one glass of spiked punch she had drank. "That sounds about right to me. It makes sense. We use UV lights at night for the plants that don't have room near the windows, but I'm sure it's not as fulfilling for them. I suppose food would be the same for you." She murmured, letting out a yawn. "You'll have to forgive me. I didn't know that one drink would take this much out of me. I suppose it could be all the studying as well; I have been spending a lot of time here lately, a lot more than I probably should. I am in no way bored, but rather fatigued." She said with a tired smile.

"Uh, well, if-if you'd like I can walk you home, it, its no trouble at all" Chitin said trying to put on a confident smile, looking around the greenhouse he couldn't really see any clock, then again this being his first time here, he wasn't surprised that he couldn't find it if there was one to begin with. "I'm guessing its getting on in the evening huh, do you think Len's is worried or or if the party is over?"

Ivy shook her head and waved a hand reassuringly. "No, it's fine. Lens is with Chroma, so I'm not sure if they're going back to his place or ours. It would probably best if I just spent the night here. It's not a big deal. The trees are surprisingly comfortable." She said taking her glasses off and rubbing the bridge of her nose, trying in vain to dispel the pressure of fatigue she felt there. "She won't be worried. She'll probably know where I am. Will you be alright walking home by yourself?"

"Sleep here? I well it would be comfortable what with the humidity and general warmth." Chitin replied, thinking it over, it was certainly some place nice to sleep in. Moist air, ample room, it almost felt like home. "Uh, well," he began hearing the second part of Ivy's statement, "yeah, yeah I'm going to be walking home, well flying home. But it's not too far I'm on the campus dorms. Not too bad at all." He said reassuringly. Though it being night, the temperature had probably dropped a bit, not to his liking.

Ivy smiled sleepily and let out a small chuckle, "Alright, then be safe on your way. It's generally a safe enough campus." She said, letting out a smaller yawn and stretching her arms to the ceiling."See you tomorrow, then, around noon."

Chitin smiled as he moved to the door, "W-well have sweet dreams then. Goodnight Ivy. See you tomorrow." The changeling waved. Stepping out of the door, the changeling's wings buzzed as he took off, heading back to his dorm room.

Ivy watched him leave, and felt a small smile light on her face. She sat up straight and peeled off her cardigan, folding it carefully and setting it off to the side. She made her way over to one of the sinks near the back of the greenhouse and splashed water on her face to get rid of the extra makeup that Lens had insisted on putting on her. She patted her face with a clean handkerchief to make sure her face was clean and replaced her glasses on her face. She made her way over to a padlocked locker off to the side, spun the combination and opened the locker, pulling out a pair of cropped sweatpants and a t-shirt. Hidden in the back of the greenhouse, she changed out of her party clothes, folding them neatly and putting them in a bag she had retrieved from the locker, putting both it and her shoes back in the locker and closing it. She pulled her hip length red hair up into a neat bun on the back of her head, cleaned her glasses and took a seat on one of the roots and leaned her head back against the tree.

"I must be crazy." She murmured, staring up into the tree's branches, through the gleaming leaves. The rustle of the leaves in the stillness of the greenhouse almost sounded concerned to her, and she let out a slow breath. "He seems nice. Nervous and shy, but nice. Maybe this will be a good experience. Maybe things will turn out alright. You never know, I guess." She reasoned, trying to reason with the murmur of the leaves and branches. The shimmer of light through them mottled across her face and she let out a sigh. "He seems lonely, at least. He doesn't know anyone here; he's completely alone. And he doesn't even know me that well. What could he possibly gain from hurting me?" She said to the quiet, closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the bark. The motion detecting lights blinked out, and Ivy drifted into a blissfully dreamless sleep.

Ivy blinked awake at the early sunlight streaming in through the greenhouse, gleaming off the leaves of every tree and bush in the room. She sat up slowly, stretching her arms towards the ceiling to loosen up her back. She woke exactly where she'd fallen asleep, on the roots of the young tree. She patted the bark and stood up, slipping on a pair of flipflops she usually kept at the greenhouse for just such an occasion. She hurried over to her locker and gathered her things, checking her watch to find it to be about 5:30 AM. This meant that the showers at the dorm would be clear as no one else would be awake. She hurried out the door, locking it behind her, and made her way to the dorms.

She wouldn't waste much time in the dorms, just enough to shower and gather clean clothes for the day ahead of her. She slipped on a pair of cropped overalls and a clean shirt, but gathered a skirt and blouse for later, packing them in her backpack. She pulled all her wet hair back into a tight bun against the back of her head and hurried out of the dorms before the rest of the dorms could wake up.

She arrived back at the greenhouse promptly at 6 AM, slipping quietly inside. It was as she had left it, which left little surprise. She threw the backpack into the locker, turned on the classical music station on the radio, and made her way over to the controls for the overhead sprinklers. "Good morning, everyone." She said cheerfully as the life giving water showered down on the plants below. She waited a good five minutes before turning them off, and pulled up a chair at one of the work benches, opening a textbook and a highlighter marker. She studied hard, reading through the dense biology text with scrutiny, highlighting whatever seemed important to remember. It took a few hours for her to finish all the homework she'd been assigned by Dean Frizzle, but felt herself to be successful in the end.

She stood up and stretched again, glad to be done with the tedious reading that came along with her major, and set about preparing the plant foods she had specially blended. She fed her plants and weeded their beds, pruned off dead or disruptive foliage. All the while the mellow notes of Morning Mozart drifted through the air, and the water beading off the leaves giggled in appreciation. She bent down her freckled face to the foliage and grinned, "You're welcome." She murmured cheerfully to the plants.

By the time she had checked her watch again, it was nearly 11:45, and she figured she had to hurry. She slipped into the bathroom and changed into the skirt and blouse she had brought with her. She let down her hip length hair and brushed it out to make sure it all dried properly, then braided it all into a long, thick red braid down her back. She nodded in approval at herself in the mirror, and strode back into the greenhouse with a confidence she hadn't felt in quite some time. As she passed by, some of the flowering bushes dropped flowers, and she picked them up, sticking them into the coils of her braid, casting a soft thank you in the direction of the bushes who'd offered them. She made her way over to the tree she had slept against, and took a seat, the sun warm on her face as she waited.